A Peterborough student has filmed a heart breaking video about his mum's fight with cancer days before she is due to attend his graduation ceremony.

Sam Latronico – from Peterborough - and his mother Matilda, who is battling ovarian cancer, have recorded the powerful online video in a bid to raise awareness of the illness

Sam and Matilda

It features the pair shaving their heads, something they decided to do together after the effects of chemotherapy caused Matilda to start losing her hair.

27-year-old Sam, who will graduate with a degree in Ethical Hacking from Abertay University in Dundee on Thursday, said the video was difficult to film.

He said: “My mum is a hairdresser by trade, and has done well for herself in that industry. I knew the prospect of losing her hair would be difficult for her.

“I decided I would shave my head in solidarity with her, so she wouldn’t go through that process alone.

Sam

“We decided to film it to try and raise awareness, so we could turn a very negative situation into a positive, or as much of a positive as it can be.”

Matilda was diagnosed with cancer at the start of this year, after months of health issues relating to an ovarian cyst.

She decided to go to the doctor after suddenly being physically sick following a takeaway.

Sam said they knew something was wrong, but they were not prepared for just how serious the situation was, with Matilda told she would have to undergo gruelling rounds of chemotherapy.

Matilda

He’s now hoping she will be able to make it to Thursday’s Graduation Ceremony at the Caird Hall in Dundee.

“When we were travelling to that first chemotherapy session she was scared - I remember holding her hand and saying that it would be fine,” Sam said

“We’ve had to remain light-hearted to get through this, and after leaving that first session she looked at me and told me it wasn’t so bad and that chemotherapy would be plain sailing if it was going to be like this, and that her cancer didn’t know what had hit it.